Mitch McConnell: Obama speech a ‘rerun of some ’70s B movie’

The Senate’s top Republicans took to the Senate floor Wednesday morning to launch a pre-emptive strike on President Barack Obama’s economic speech slated for Wednesday afternoon, portraying his pivot back to the economy as predictable and old news.

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the president will deliver a partisan speech that will pander to “radical elements” of his base that belong in the same “flat-earth society” that Obama says includes global warming deniers. And while the White House is portraying the president’s speech as Obama’s latest vision for rebuilding the middle class, McConnell likened the president’s speech to a “midday rerun of some ’70s B movie” rather than a blockbuster feature film.

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“He’ll probably try and cast this as some titanic struggle between those who believe in ‘investing’ in the country and those who supposedly want to eliminate paved roads, or stop signs, or whatever ridiculous straw man he invents this time,” McConnell said. “Give me a break. There is a real philosophical debate going on in our country, but it’s not anything like how he imagines it.”

The Republican leader also praised the bipartisan work on a student loans bill expected to get a vote in the Senate on Wednesday, calling it a key juxtaposition to a Senate working together and a president giving speeches.

“Every time he goes out and gives one of these speeches, it generates little more than a collective bipartisan eye roll,” McConnell said. “It’s just such a colossal waste of time and energy: Resources that would be better spent actually working with both parties in Congress to grow the economy and create jobs.”

McConnell’s deputy, Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), said he expects yet another of the president’s “repetitive pivots to the economy.” Cornyn rapped the president for not approving the Keystone XL pipeline, not fulfilling promised growth in the manufacturing sector and not increasing take-home pay for the middle class.

“I’m afraid if we continue with the policies of the last four years, we will create a lost generation of young Americans who cannot find good, full-time jobs. None of us — Republicans, Democrats alike — none of us want that to happen,” Cornyn said.